Battery terminal or connecter



Aug. 8, 1933. H. A. RECEN 1,921,840

BATTERY TERMINAL OR CONNEGTER Filed Feb. 2, 1932 awe/mm fienv y B60672.

Patented Aug. 8, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE half to Charles W.Colo.

Burnheimer, Kokomo,

Application February 2, 1932 Serial No.

9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in battery terminals of the kindthat are attached to the ends of cables and used for making connec--tion with the terminal posts of storage batteries.

Practically every automobile and truck are provided with a storagebattery for lighting, ignition and starting purposes and it isfrequently necessary to remove the batteries for charging and forcleaning. The ordinary battery terminal now in common use is providedwith bolts for clamping the terminal against the terminal post of thebattery, but experience has shown that owing to the action of the acidfumes the bolt and nut corrode to such an extent that it is practicallyimpossible to loosen the bolt when the terminal is to be removed.

The difiiculty pointed out has been recognized for a long time and manyefforts have been made to produce a battery terminal of suchconstruction that it can be readily attached and removed from theterminal post of the battery.

It is the object of this invention to produce a simple and substantialbattery terminal that shall be so constructed that it can be easilyclamped in position on the battery terminal post without the use of anyspecial tools and which can also be readily removed.

Another object of this invention is to produce a battery terminal ofsuch construction that it will make good electrical contact with thebattery terminal post even if the latter is highly sulphatized and whichwill also have means for preventing the accidental removal of thebattery terminal from the post.

In order to describe this invention so that it may be readily understoodand so that its con struction and mode of operation will be readilyapparent reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which thepreferred embodi- 40 ment thereof has been illustrated, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of one of the improved battery terminalsshowing the same in position on a battery terminal post;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2, Fig. I;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to that shown in Fig. 1, but showing thebattery terminal disconnected from the battery terminal post and aportion shown in section;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the body portion of the terminal showingthe clamping member removed from the same;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 55, Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective of the clamping member.

In the drawing reference numeral 1 represents the terminal post of astorage battery and reference numeral 2 a cable. For the purpose ofconnecting the end of the cable to the post 1, a battery terminal orconnecter has been provided which consists of a body member 3 which, inthe embodiment illustrated, is made from a sheet of metal, one end ofwhich is curved as indicated by reference numeral 4 and encloses the endof the cable 2 in the manner shown in Fig. 2. The cable is sweated tothe body member 3 in the usual manner. The member 3 is provided with an5 opening 5. One side of this opening is bounded by a cylindrical wall 6that extends substantially one hundred eighty degrees and is provided onits inner surface with a plurality of teeth 7. The inner surface of thewall 6 is curved about the center 8. The side of the opening oppositefrom the cylindrical wall 6 is formed by a curved surface 9 that iseccentric with respect to the center 8. Located within the opening is aclamping member 10. This clamping member is formed in part by an arcuateportion whose concave surface is cylindrical and curved about the sameradius as the inner surface of wall 6. The outer surface of the arcuateportion of the clamping member has been designated by reference numeral11 and this is eccentric with respect to the center of curvature of theinner surface. A handle 12 extends outwardly from the upper edge of thearcuate clamping member and a lug 13 is provided at the lower edge andthis can be bent rearwardly as shown in Figs. 2 and 6 so as to hold theclamping member against accidental displacement. When the clampingmember is in the position shown in Fig. 3, the opening is enlarged tosuch an extent that the battery terminal post 1 can be inserted into it.After the terminal post is in place, the handle 12 is moved in aclockwise direction, Fig. 3, and this rotates the arcuate clampingmember and moves it along the curved eccentric surface 9 into engagementwith the battery post. Owing to the clamping action obtained from theeccentric construction, a great clamping force can be obtained by acomparatively small force applied to the handle 12, and this force orpressure will cause the teeth '7 to embed 100 themselves in the batteryterminal post in the manner shown in Fig. 2. The action of the teeth 7is to make good electrical contact with the metal of the terminal postand they also serve to hold the battery terminal against accidentalremoval. 105

At this point I desire to call attention to another feature of theconstruction which is best shown in Figs. 4 and 5. From these figures itwill be seen that the eccentric wall 9 is curved or inclined withrespect to the body of the battery terminal and that this inclination isdownward in the direction in which the clamping member is moved fortightening the terminal. It will be seen that when the clamping memberis rotated, it will be moved downwardly by the action of the inclinedunder surface of the part with which it is in contact and this will havea tendency to move the parts downwardly on the battery terminal post.

In the drawing the opening into which the cable end is inserted extendsat right angles to the length of the battery terminal, but it can be inalignment with the same if desired and can make any other angle that isfound necessary.

The battery terminal described above can be made of any suitable metal,but it should be coated with a layer of lead which will resist theaction of the sulphuric acid better than that of any other metal.

From the above description it will be seen that I have produced a verysimple battery terminal of such construction that it can be readilyapplied to and removed from the terminal post of a battery without theuse of any special tools. In the construction shown the material used ispreferably sheet metal of some kind, coated with lead as abovedescribed, but it can be made much heavier than shown in the drawing andalso lighter if desired.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. A battery terminal comprising a lug provided at one end with anopening for attaching a cable thereto and at the other end with anopening adapted to receive and encircle a battery terminal the lastnamed opening having a wall formed in part by a cylindrical surface ofsubstantially 180 degrees extent and in part by a cam surface eccentricwith respect to the center of the cylindrical surface, a clamping memberof concavo convex cross section located in the opening, the innersurface of the clamping member being cylindrical and when in oneposition substantially concentric with the corresponding cylindricalsurface of the opening, the convex surface of the clamping member beingeccentric and adapted to contact with the eccentric wall portion of theopening and a handle attached to the clamping member for turning thesame.

2. A battery terminal comprising a lug provided at one end with anopening for attaching a cable thereto and at the other end with anopening adapted to receive and encircle a battery terminal, the lastnamed opening having a wall formed in part by a cylindrical surface ofsubstantially 180 degrees extent and in part by a cam surface eccentricwith respect to the cylindrical surface, a clamping member of concavoconvex cross section located in the opening, the inner surface of theclamping member being cylindrical and when in one position substantiallyconcentric with the corresponding cylindrical surface of the opening,the convex surface of the clamping member being eccentric and adapted tocontact with the eccentric wall portion of the opening and lugsextending inwardly from the cylindrical surface of the lug.

3. A battery terminal comprising a lug provided at one end with anopening for attaching a cable thereto and at the other end with anopening adapted to receive and encircle a battery terminal, the lastnamed opening having a wall formed in part by a cylindrical surface andin part by a.surface eccentric with respect to the center of thecylindrical surface, a clamping member of concavo convex cross sectionlocated in the opening, the inner surface of the clamping member beingcylindrical and when in one posi-- tion substantially concentric withthe corresponding cylindrical surface of the opening, the convex surfaceof the clamping member being eccentric and adapted to contact with theeccentric wall portion of the opening and means on each side of theclamping member for limiting transverse movement in the opening in thelug.

4. A battery terminal comprising, a lug provided at one end with anopening for attachin a cable thereto and at the other end with anopening adapted to receive and encircle a battery terminal, the lastnamed opening having a wall formed in part by a cylindrical surface andin part by a surface eccentric with respect to the center of thecylindrical surface, a clamping member of concavo convex cross sectionlocated in the opening, the inner surface of the clamping member beingcylindrical and when in one position substantially concentric with thecorresponding cylindrical surface of the opening, the convex surface ofthe clamping member being eccentric and adapted to contact with theeccentric wall portion of the opening, a handle attached to the clampingmember for turning the same and means for moving the clamping membertransversely in the opening when it is turned.

5. A battery terminal comprising, a lug provided at one end with anopening for attaching a cable thereto and at the other end with anopening adapted to receive and encircle a battery terminal, the lastnamed opening. having a wall formed in part by a cylindrical surface andin part by a surface eccentric with respect to the center of thecylindrical surface, a clamping member of concavo convex cross sectionlocated in the opening, the inner surface of the clamping member beingcylindrical and when in one position substantially concentric with thecorresponding cylindrical surface of the opening, the convex surface ofthe clamping member being eccentric with respect to the innercylindrical surface and adapted to contact with the eccentric wallportion of the opening, a handle attached to the clamping member forturning the same and means for moving the clamping member transverselyin the opening when it is turned, said last named means comprising asecond cam surface carried by the lug.

6. A battery terminal comprising a lug provided at one end with anopening for receiving one end of a cable and at the other end with anopening adapted to receive and completely encircle a battery terminalpost, the wall of the last named opening being formed in part by acylindrical surface and in part by a surface eccentric with respect tothe cylindrical surface, a cam member located in that portion of theopening whose wall is eccentric, the inner surface of the cam memberbeing cylindrical and when in one position substantially concentric withthe corresponding cylindrical wall of the opening, the convex surface ofthe clamping member being eccentric and adapted to contact with theeccentric portion of the opening wall.

7. A battery terminal comprising a lug pro vided at one end with anopening for attaching a cable thereto and at the other end with anopening adapted to receive'and completely encircle a battery terminal,the last named opening having a wall formed in part by concave surfacewhich forms an arc of substantially 180 degrees and in part by a concavecam surface that is 8. A device in accordance with claim 6 in which thecam member has a handle on one side for moving it and 2. lug on theother side for holding it in place.

9. A device in accordance with claim 7 in which the cam member has ahandle on one side for moving it and a lug on the other side for holdingit in place.

HENRY A. RECEN.

